Larry Grieco, Librarian.   One of the more interesting, but lesser known stories in the history of American politics is that of Eleanor Roosevelt and her first cousin, Alice Roosevelt Longworth. Alice was the daughter of Theodore Roosevelt, and Eleanor was a Roosevelt long before she became the wife of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Once we get past the oddities of this relationship, we can look at the lifelong rivalry between these two remarkable women. They were born eight months apart and spent much of their childhoods together. As they grew up they retreated to opposite ends of the political spectrum. Eleanor was the “do-gooder,” and committed her life to social justice, while Alice was “an opponent of big government,” who used her “insider” status to influence politics as much as she could. Consequently the two women maintained a public feud for many years. In the 1930s they wrote opposing syndicated columns in the newspapers and even “embarked on competing nationwide speaking tours.”

The book is called Hissing Cousins, written by Marc Peyser and Timothy Dwyer, and “reveals the contentious bond between two political trailblazers who short-circuited the rules of gender and power, each in her own way.” Writer Jonathan Alter: “This is the beautifully rendered and absorbing story of the seventy-year family rivalry between two of the most compelling women of the twentieth century—one Democrat, one Republican, both fascinating.”

Nicholas Sparks has a new novel out, called See Me. This is a love story and—like a typical Sparks book—a whole lot more. Colin Hancock has “a history of violence” but has seemed to turn the corner, determined to finish his teaching degree and put behind him forever the destructive aspects of his earlier life.

Maria Sanchez is the hardworking daughter of Mexican immigrants who earns a degree from Duke Law School and lands a great job at a prestigious law firm in Wilmington. The two meet in a chance encounter on a “rain-swept road,” and their lives will never be the same.

Maria has some traumatic history of her own, and, when “menacing reminders of events in her past begin to surface,” they both are faced with overcoming the demons that just won’t go away. Will their relationship with each other, as tenuous as it is, hold against all odds? In the hands of this bestselling author, the pleasure is in the plot and character development. This is simply a great read.

Now it’s time for an excursion into the supernatural in a book by Swedish writer Stefan Spjut. The Shapeshifters is an exciting tale about trolls, “legendary giants known as stallo who can control human thoughts and assume animal form.”

When a child goes missing from a mountain cabin, his mother claims he was “carried away by a giant.” Twenty-five years later another child disappears, but this time a photo provides a valuable lead. The mother follows the trail of missing children to northern Sweden where she encounters some humans who are part stallo themselves, and who stand in the way of finding and rescuing the children.

Publishers Weekly: “Spjut turns Scandinavian mythology upside down in a shades-of-gray world built for lovers of fantastical suspense.”

The Gilpin County Public Library has earned the honor of being selected as just one of thirteen libraries in Colorado to participate in a financial literacy initiative, Common Cents for Colorado, made possible through a national grant program. The public will have the opportunity to take part in workshops and other activities that offer help with everything from personal budgeting and money management planning, to strategies for saving and investing.

You can sign up for these free workshops, which will take place on Saturday mornings, beginning February 27. The series will be facilitated by library staff member Debra Benitez. For more information, contact Larry Grieco at 303-582-0161, or email lgrieco@co.gilpin.co.us.